KOZHIKODE: Suma takes the life bit philosophical now. There is no overflowing sadness or joy. The 50-year old woman, the caretaker at ‘Osanam Bhavan” run by Thamarassery diocese for cancer patients, was not the same eight years before. The happy life of the wife of a Navy officer turned upside down when she was diagnosed with cancer. The next shock was when her husband shut the door on her telling would take at least six years to cure.
Suma was literally in the street as her parents were not alive nor siblings to receive her. Unable to bear the trauma, she jumped before a train near Kozhikode but was miraculously rescued by a Good Samaritan. “He gave me food and brought to the oncology ward of Kozhikode Medical College Hospital (MCH). A kind-hearted nurse arranged accommodation at Osanam Bhavan nearby,” says Suma.
She was cured after a three-month treatment but decided to stay in the Bhavan to take care of the cancer patients as she decided during treatment. “Experiences had totally changed me. Now the happiness is providing succour to the patients who come here. I cannot relate to the woman who roamed in Visakhapatnam and Mumbai as the wife of a Navy officer,” she smiles. The Wayanad native keeps no hatred towards her husband who abandoned her and not even allowing their 16-year daughter to see her.
“But for the timely presence of that unknown man, I would have killed by train run over. Now life is a gift which should be used to provide relief to others,” she turns philosophical. “Suma is very endearing to all the inmates of the Bhavan. The centre can accommodate 40 patients. Besides preparing food for them, it is she who instills confidence in them by narrating her story,” says Sebastian V.V., its
manager.
